As I write this blog, I have tears running down my face this morning as my heart overflows with gratitude.
THANK YOU for being such an important part of our farm family. Thank you for being a part of the many changes of our farm during the last year. We have enjoyed getting to know new friends and neighbors. Thank you for that.
As a mother, I just wanted to take a moment and say how proud I am of my children. They work so hard all year long. When many kids are connected to their gaming stations or cell phones, my kids are connected to the farm.
They spend their winters crafting, sanding & painting farm signs, raking leaves, trimming trees along fence lines, hauling wood, caring for our chickens and caring for our farmstead. This includes cleaning farm tools and preparing for the next season, performing maintenance on equipment and cleaning out storage sheds. They help label, organize and store canned goods which are made from summer produce and assist with preparing for local craft and artisan fares and holiday events.
In the spring, they spend countless hours with us outside in preparation for the first plantings. This includes tilling, raking, picking rocks, pounding stakes and trenching through the mud and gunk to get er' done. Then they help us plant. They run planting lines with twine and stakes, rake straight paths for seeds, carefully lay seed in the ground and cover with dirt. They know one seed lost is a mouth not fed. This is not to mention all the miscellaneous projects such as laying in new pathways to the chicken coop, building up washout areas along the creek bed, seeding the yard, installing flower and rock beds around the house and painting projects. These are all things they do on weekends and after school hours.
When school lets out for the summer, they don't sleep in and watch TV all day, they are up and working in the fields usually by 6 am. They weed, feed, water, rake, hoe, pick, fertilize, spray for bugs and of course ...taste test all the fresh fruits and veggies. When they enjoy the first snap peas or sweet strawberries, they grin from ear-to-ear. Yes, they get tired sometimes and hot, extremely hot. We live in Arkansas. They mainly work without complaint as they know how fortunate they are to be living on a farm, working land that their great-grandparents once worked, feeding their family and families in our community. We make sure to include fun in the mix with picnics in the shade, special adventures in the woods, collecting strange bugs in jars, letting the kids get creative with their "own" gardens, swimming at the end of a long day, spraying each other down with water hoses and making up dances in the field as we work.
You see, it doesn't end with working in the fields. When the pickings are done, we join forces in our farm kitchen washing and prepping veggies for market, for our farm stand openings, for local charities and for our own personal use. Summer hours can be very long. They own this thing called "farm life".
In the fall after the kids go back to school, the farm keeps running. Most of the days are spent picking fall produce and prepping it for market. During the weekends, the kids help with farmers market sales and fall clean-up of the farm. Their primary responsibility is school though and they are expected to work just as hard at school as they do the farm.
I am proud of our kids. I am proud of our farm.
Thank you for sharing and joining us in our farm life.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year in 2015!
Love,
Ladd, Carrie, Alexandria, Adam, Agnes
Max, Sadie, Hercules and the Feathery Chicks
They spend their winters crafting, sanding & painting farm signs, raking leaves, trimming trees along fence lines, hauling wood, caring for our chickens and caring for our farmstead. This includes cleaning farm tools and preparing for the next season, performing maintenance on equipment and cleaning out storage sheds. They help label, organize and store canned goods which are made from summer produce and assist with preparing for local craft and artisan fares and holiday events.
In the spring, they spend countless hours with us outside in preparation for the first plantings. This includes tilling, raking, picking rocks, pounding stakes and trenching through the mud and gunk to get er' done. Then they help us plant. They run planting lines with twine and stakes, rake straight paths for seeds, carefully lay seed in the ground and cover with dirt. They know one seed lost is a mouth not fed. This is not to mention all the miscellaneous projects such as laying in new pathways to the chicken coop, building up washout areas along the creek bed, seeding the yard, installing flower and rock beds around the house and painting projects. These are all things they do on weekends and after school hours.
When school lets out for the summer, they don't sleep in and watch TV all day, they are up and working in the fields usually by 6 am. They weed, feed, water, rake, hoe, pick, fertilize, spray for bugs and of course ...taste test all the fresh fruits and veggies. When they enjoy the first snap peas or sweet strawberries, they grin from ear-to-ear. Yes, they get tired sometimes and hot, extremely hot. We live in Arkansas. They mainly work without complaint as they know how fortunate they are to be living on a farm, working land that their great-grandparents once worked, feeding their family and families in our community. We make sure to include fun in the mix with picnics in the shade, special adventures in the woods, collecting strange bugs in jars, letting the kids get creative with their "own" gardens, swimming at the end of a long day, spraying each other down with water hoses and making up dances in the field as we work.
You see, it doesn't end with working in the fields. When the pickings are done, we join forces in our farm kitchen washing and prepping veggies for market, for our farm stand openings, for local charities and for our own personal use. Summer hours can be very long. They own this thing called "farm life".
In the fall after the kids go back to school, the farm keeps running. Most of the days are spent picking fall produce and prepping it for market. During the weekends, the kids help with farmers market sales and fall clean-up of the farm. Their primary responsibility is school though and they are expected to work just as hard at school as they do the farm.
I am proud of our kids. I am proud of our farm.
Thank you for sharing and joining us in our farm life.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year in 2015!
Love,
Ladd, Carrie, Alexandria, Adam, Agnes
Max, Sadie, Hercules and the Feathery Chicks
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